Sink a Ship

Procedure: Measure boat length and height of boat for volume Weigh boat and pennies Calculate how many pennies boat can hold Place boat in water Add pennies evenly until it sank Count how many pennies that took

Data Collection Boat Weight: 25g Penny Weight:2.67g Boat Length:8.4cm Boat Height 3.8 cm: Analysis: Pi*radius^2*height=Volume of a cylinder Volume=Pi*0.042^2*0.038=2.11X10^-4m^3 Rho(Density)*Volume*Gravity= Buoyant Force 1000 kg/m3*2.11x10^-4 m3*9.8=2.064N Bouyant Force = Normal Force when boat is on the verge of sinking. (Mass of boat+Mass of total number of pennies)*Gravity=Normal Force (0.025kg+Mass of total number of Pennies)*9.8=Normal Force 2.064/9.8=0.025kg+Mass of total number of Pennies .211kg-.025kg=Mass of total number of Pennies .185kg=number of pennies*mass Averaged mass of one penny=.0026 .185/.0026=number of pennies=71.37 pennies Number of Pennies it took to sink boat=71 pennies Freebody diagram

Net Force Equation F=Fb-Fn Which quantities were measured for this lab? Which were unknowns. Volume of the boat and the normal force of the boat were measured The buoyant force of the boat was unknown. Calculate the Percent Error. If the percent error exceeds 3%, discuss the likely contributors to the error. The percent error was 13% in the first calculation. The percent error did not exceed 3% in the second calculation, however. It was .5%. A likely contributor to the error in the first calculation is the difference of weight in pennies depending on the year they were made. Any penny made before 1982 are approximately half a gram more in weight. Also, a blunder in calculations, possibly from the conversion from grams to kilograms could have affected the results. If the mass of the ship were increased, could the ship hold more or less pennies? Justify your answer. Less pennies. The buoyant force will stay the same, so the normal force has to equal it. An increase in boat mass will require a decrease in pennies to balance the force. If the volume of the ship were increased, could the ship hold more or less pennies? Justify your answer. If the volume of the ship increased, it would increase the buoyant force, thereby increasing the number of pennies needed to balance it. Conclusion The Hypothesis was If a number of pennies are added to a boat, then how many can it hold before it sinks. The estimated number of pennies were calculated by equating the buoyant force (rho*v*g) with

the Normal force (M+m)g. The estimated number of pennies the boat can hold was 71.37. The actual value the boat held was 71 pennies. This gives a percent error of .5%. Refer back to the question on error analysis for the discussion of errors. A real life application of this aspect of physics would be the calculation of how much cargo a boat can hold.